DR. LAWRENCE BOAKYE v. YAW BOAKYE

This is a motion on Notice for an order to suspend the refusal of the grant of stay of execution pending appeal and for stay of proceedings consequent upon the order of refusal to stay execution delivered by the Court of Appeal on 19th March, 2014.

The Respondent in this application invoked the original jurisdictions of the high court seeking a number of reliefs. After a closely contested trial between the parties, the High Court entered judgment in favour of the Respondent declaring him owner of the property Plot No. 61A Airport Residential Area Accra and damages for trespass. The Applicants counter claim was also dismissed. Dissatisfied with the said judgment the Applicant filed a Notice of Appeal and subsequently an application for stay of execution pending the hearing of the Appeal. The trial judge dismissed the application which was then repeated at the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal on 19th March, 2014 dismissed the application.

The Applicant who labels the court of Appeal decision as erroneous and occasioning a miscarriage of justice has filed the present motion for an order to suspend the order of refusal and for a stay of proceedings consequent upon the order of refusal to stay execution.

I have carefully considered the arguments of both counsel in this application as well as read the motion paper and the supporting affidavits and annexures and those in opposition. I have come to the view that no exceptional circumstances beyond or additional to those elements summarised by Akufo Addo JSC in the case of Joseph V. Jebeille (1963) I GLR 387 have been urged on me to warrant a grant of this prayer. This is a necessary requirement for the grant of an order to suspend an order of a lower court or a stay of proceedings consequent upon an order refusing an application for stay of execution as pithily stated by my respected brother, Dr. Date Bah, JSC in Golden Beach Hotels (GH) Ltd. vs. Pack Plus Int. Ltd (2012( SCGLR 452 at 459 thus : “According to the argument we earlier advanced in this ruling, the criterion for suspending an order of a lower court should not be identical with the criterion summarised by Akufo Addo JSC in the Jebeille case in relation to applications for stay of execution, but should embody an additional element or requirement. The precise nature of this additional element or requirement we would leave to subsequent cases to develop. However, subject to fine-tuning in the light of the facts of subsequent cases we would propose